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Quick Look: Innovation and Sustainability

The New Sustainability is the cover story on launch day for a brand new online magazine which is branding itself as a news source for optimism and solutions. The main thesis, "It's wrong to think economic growth and sustainability are mutually exclusive." That's it. Though there is a shower scene where the author notes that even though people are dying of thirst elsewhere, the (un-bylined) auther did his or her best creative work in the shower, so....

I tried to be brief.

Financial growth is meaningless. It's what we measure, but it's not what we want - what we want is the ability to exchange money for goods and services that make us happy and healthy. In other words, we need growth in intangible assets, such as trusted relationships, an environment conducive to mental and physical health, the ability to attain and maintain health, and continued learning.

But we don't relate any of that as growth in the US. So "economic growth" becomes useless as a measurement of the success of our "economy," and sustainability is a term that also requires a thorough understanding of the ACTUAL things we have and want, not a projection of our current rate of depleting the environment vs. a rate at which the planet can sustain itself.

The reason you're having trouble tying innovation into sustainability is because you're comparing a straw man with an unused metrics system. The connection is only created by thoroughly understanding intangible assets.